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Monthly Archives: October 2012
Log Cabin Republicans “Sell Out”- Endorse Romney
Today, the Log Cabin Republicans endorsed Mitt Romney for president. National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Jerame Davis had the following reaction:
“The Log Cabin Republicans have proven once and for all that they are not an organization aligned with the LGBT movement. They are a Republican front group bumbling their way into fooling LGBT voters that it’s OK to support a party that would legislate us back into the closet.
“Their endorsement of Mitt Romney isn’t just shameful – it’s insulting. Mitt Romney stands for nothing positive for LGBT people. He supports a federal marriage amendment (which was a reason for Log Cabin to refuse to endorse George W. Bush in 2004). He supports McCarthy-like investigations into our community for evidence of ‘harassment of Christians’. He opposes the repeal of DOMA. He opposes ENDA. He’s even said things as basic as the right to visit your sick or dying loved one in the hospital is a ‘privilege’ and not a right.
“On top of all of that, Mitt Romney is a liar. He has told so many untruths and changed his positions so many times throughout this campaign, how can Log Cabin – or anyone – trust a word he would say? A person with no moral compass goes whichever way the political winds blow. With Mitt Romney in charge of the ship of state, we would be a rudderless nation with nothing but luck to keep us from crashing into the rocky shore – and Log Cabin Republicans believes this is the best their party and our country can muster.
“It’s a disgrace. A once venerated and decent organization has become a shell of itself blithely pandering to the least common denominator. This is politics at its worst – when a community sells out its own people for the gain of a few individuals. There is little doubt that Clarke Coooper’s position on the RNC finance committee played a major role in this decision. Of course, so did their blinding fear of GOProud nipping at their heels.
“So there you have it – the Log Cabin Republicans, who screamed loudly and forcefully for months that liberal groups and LGBT movement posturing weren’t going to affect their endorsements have instead allowed the interests of money sucking GOP insiders and the fear of a conservative performance troupe to decide their endorsement for them.
“It’s reprehensible. Have they no decency?”
My take is this: For today’s Log Cabin Republicans, human rights take a back seat to economic rights might. They are willing to endorse candidates and policies that cause people like themselves greater suffering and indignity in favor of currying political clout with a party that loathes them.
It’s a real-world example of Stockholm Syndrome- where the captive becomes sympathetic to their captor, never realizing they have no freedom until they leave.
Related articles
- Serious Bad Taste From Log Cabin Republicans in Florida (therainbowpost.com)
- ‘Mitt Gets Worse’ group petitions Log Cabin Republicans not to endorse Romney-Ryan ticket (miamiherald.typepad.com)
- FYI, The Log Cabin Republicans Have Yet To Endorse Romney (towleroad.com)
Marry Them Today
From Sean Chapin- a new song and video aimed at people voting about marriage equality in Minnesota, Maine, Washington and Maryland. From Sean:
“Next month, four states will be voting on marriage equality: Washington, Maine, Minnesota and Maryland. With this in mind, I’ve written an original song and produced a music video in hopes of helping change the hearts and mind of voters in these four states, and it is called “Marry Them”. Please feel free to share this video to those you know. “
And yeah, I teared up.
Romnesia Affects Ann, Too
“The Sixth Sense” Comes To City Hall
You might be tempted to close this out-
but, trust me, hang on and watch the whole thing….
Yep. It’s awesome.
SaltLake Tribune Endorses Obama
…and in one of the most comprehensively reasoned endorsements I’ve seen in a long time. Money quote:
“In considering which candidate to endorse, The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board had hoped that Romney would exhibit the same talents for organization, pragmatic problem solving and inspired leadership that he displayed here more than a decade ago. Instead, we have watched him morph into a friend of the far right, then tack toward the center with breathtaking aplomb. Through a pair of presidential debates, Romney’s domestic agenda remains bereft of detail and worthy of mistrust.
Therefore, our endorsement must go to the incumbent, a competent leader who, against tough odds, has guided the country through catastrophe and set a course that, while rocky, is pointing toward a brighter day. The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first.”
It’s good.
Related articles
- Salt Lake Tribune throws support behind Obama (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
- In a Devastating Turn for Romney, Swing State and Home State Papers Endorse Obama (politicususa.com)
- Obama racks up newspaper endorsements (thehill.com)
Do you Know Where YOUR Envelope Goes? Catholic Church Hierarchy Spending More Than A Million Dollars Against Marriage Equality
From The Human Rights Campaign:
by Dan Rafter, Online Campaigns Manager
click for full story
The Catholic Church is funneling unprecedented dollar amounts into the four states where marriage equality is on the ballot this fall – Minnesota, Maryland, Maine and Washington – and in many cases, parishioners may not even be aware that their dollars are being used to fund discrimination. The new HRC report finds that the Church has spent at least $1.1 million as part of its broader effort to deny loving, committed couples the right to marry. In addition, a close ally of the Church and past co-conspirator, the National Organization for Marriage, has spent nearly $1.4 million on the four ballot measures. In the aggregate, the Church and NOM are the single largest funders of discrimination, responsible for funding nearly 60 percent of all anti-equality efforts in Minnesota, Maryland, Maine and Washington.
A significant portion of the Catholic-affiliated funding -more than $640,000 – comes from the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization within the Church. The Knights of Columbus have an established history of using their money to fight marriage equality dating back to 2005. Equally Blessed, a coalition of pro-LGBT Catholic groups, will be releasing an extensive report in partnership with HRC today detailing the Knights’ longstanding financial support for anti-equality measures.
In Minnesota alone, the opposition to marriage equality has received more than $180,000 from dioceses across the nation. Much of this funding likely came without the knowledge of parishioners; and as diocesan schools and important programs like soup kitchens struggle for resources, the Catholic Church has instead chosen to fund hateful, misleading political campaigns targeting loving, committed couples.
Learn more about the work of the Church hierarchy and its allies in fighting marriage equality this election cycle at www.hrc.org/catholicreport.
Related articles
- Resigned Priests Come Out For Marriage Equality (dgsmith.org)
- In Same-Sex Marriage Fight, Catholic Church Gives More Than $1 Million, Human Rights Campaign Reports (huffingtonpost.com)
- Knights of Columbus Donating $$ and Time to Minnesota Marriage Ban (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)
- Marriage Equality: A Tale Of Two Catholics (dgsmith.org)
- Washington State Catholic Pastors’ Refusal Continues to Inspire (dgsmith.org)
Cognitive Training Beneficial For People With HIV
As more effective antiretroviral therapy has evolved over the past 30 years, HIV/AIDS has shifted from an acute to a chronic condition. But as patients live longer, research indicates that they are experiencing cognitive impairments at a higher rate than people without the disease.
A new study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, published online Oct. 15, 2012 in the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, shows that cognitive training exercises can help — improving mental processing speed and the ability to complete daily tasks in middle-age and older adults with HIV.
“Today, more than 25 percent of people living with HIV in the United States are older than 50,” says the study’s lead author, David Vance, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAB School of Nursing, associate director of the UAB Center for Nursing Research and scientist in the UAB Edward R. Roybal Center for Research on Applied Gerontology. “Thirty to 60 percent of adults living with HIV experience cognitive problems at some point in the illness, a condition known as ‘HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders.’ It’s imperative for people with HIV and their treatment teams be proactive in addressing cognitive problems as they emerge, because without treatment these issues — which mimic premature aging — can lead to difficulties in working and living independently.”
Related articles
- Popular HIV drug may cause memory declines (sciencedaily.com)
- Study: Brain exercises work to improve mental function in HIV/AIDS patients (al.com)
- Alarming increase in number of HIV cases (smh.com.au)
- Complacency blamed for HIV increase (bigpondnews.com)
Voting On Deficit? It’s Lower Now than 3 Years Ago- By $1.089 Trillion
Late Friday afternoon, the Treasury Department published the official report on the U.S. budget deficit for the most recent fiscal year: $1.089 trillion. While that’s obviously still a very large budget shortfall, the deficit is $200 billion smaller than it was last year, and is nearly $300 billion smaller than when President Obama took office.
To add a little historical context to this, over the last four decades, only two presidents have reduced the deficit this much, this quickly: Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
As the job market improves and unemployment falls, one of the central attacks from Romney/Ryan against President Obama has to do with the deficit. The attack overlooks Paul Ryan’s role in creating the massive deficit, the inconvenient fact that Romney hasn’t presented a deficit-reduction plan, and the problem that the Romney/Ryan agenda would appear to make the deficit significantly worse, but that’s their story and they’re sticking to it.
It’s worth noting, then, that as of today, the U.S. federal budget deficit has shrunk — a lot.
I put together this new chart reflecting the deficit over the course of the last four years. It starts with the figures released in 2009, when the deficit reached a record high of $1.4 trillion. Why is the column in red? Because, thanks to fiscal years, Obama inherited a deficit of nearly $1.3 trillion from Bush/Cheney the moment he took the oath of office.
This year, however, according to the official data published by the Treasury Department, the deficit was $1.089 trillion.
Related articles
- U.S. budget deficit shrinks by over $200 billion, reaches 4-year low (maddowblog.msnbc.com)
- Federal deficit cut, but tops $1 trillion for 4th year (bottomline.nbcnews.com)
- The wrong issue for the wrong candidate (maddowblog.msnbc.com)
A Thirst For Justice
This was my reflection at the Bozeman Unitarian Universalist Fellowship this morning for their “LGBT Voices” service.
U.S Postage Stamp, 1957 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I grew up in the 70’s. A Roman Catholic. Back then, the emphasis was less on “Roman” and more on “Catholic”. Catholic as you might know means “Universal”.
My religious training as a kid was very ecumenical, non-dogmatic, fresh on the heels of Pope John’s Vatican Council- designed to open the windows and doors of the church for some fresh air- and as such, there was a heavy emphasis on social justice and the dignity of the human person. I had wonderful teachers, nuns, priests, parents, and peers- and we all believed steadfastly in this principle probably first espoused by Confucius:
“Do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself.”
This, it seems, is one of the crowning principles of justice.
“Do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself”
And I loved it- I still do. It guides my life even today.
But what I wished for myself was peace- and it was jeopardized, in some part, by the dogmatic underpinnings of shame in the faith that taught me those strong tenets of social justice. Something wasn’t quite right- and it took me decades to reconcile it. I was born, some have said, “disordered”. Simply because of something that flowed from the depths of my being, from my heart: I wanted to fall in love with another man.
Words like “disordered” or “unnatural” get thrown around a lot by people who really aren’t willing to try and understand. They may find it more comfortable to sit in judgment, without trying to sit in empathy or compassion. Possibly because they lack the imagination to believe that God could truly surprise the world.
But seriously, if that’s not something God would do, there’s not much point in being God, is there?
But there it is. This is who I am.
And I’m not alone. There are millions of people, like myself who are born out of the course of “normal”. For some it’s sexuality, for some it’s different senses of beauty or reason or silence or vision. It’s all the same.
I realized that sense of justice that I was born with, that sense of “Do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself” must be followed by that which is like it “Do not take away from others what you do not wish to take away from yourself.”
LGBT persons must not be oppressed- we must be included, we must be loved- not only in spirit, but in person. For me, this is peace. This is justice.
And keeping me and my sisters and brothers and friends from achieving the same level of happiness as they enjoy is unjust. It’s unfair, and it’s spiteful.
This is the civil rights issue of our day. This is the moral rights issue of our day. And I’m not just talking about churches and theology here. As one nun I know and love reminded me recently “freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.” I don’t have the right to force my religious beliefs on anyone, but conversely, no one has the right to force theirs on me. Which seems to happen a lot sometimes- the forcing of belief on others. I have freedom of religion, so I’m going to use it, not abuse it.
My religion is based on love.
And justice.
Right now, in Montana, there is a campaign to have fairness for all couples- regardless of sexuality. It represents everything I believe: that I deserve the same protections as my parents had. It’s called the Fair is Fair Campaign– and I have enough bumper stickers for every car in the parking lot….
I left Montana for 10 years, but I promised myself when I moved back, that I would not hide who I am, that I would “suffer the slings and arrows” if it meant that a kid who grew up here would have a better life than I did. Because there’s nothing shameful about being who you were created to be.
Nothing.
And, because love is always optimistic, I hope and I trust that just maybe, someday, sooner than later, we’ll all believe that.
Related articles
- Mitt Romney Denies Freedom of Religion (alternet.org)
- Obama Defends Freedom of Religion (chuck-watts.org)
- Faith groups come together to launch social justice organization in Nevada (bikyamasr.com)
- Is It a Coincidence that Coming Out Day and Vatican II’s Anniversary Are Today? (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)
- Greer Among Young NW LGBTQ Leaders Invited to The White House (dgsmith.org)
- Resigned Priests Come Out For Marriage Equality (dgsmith.org)
From Eternity To Here 